“I know as much as you do,” said Doug Ford of the reports. He said he has been unable to reach the mayor by phone. “I don’t know who this person is who is driving the car. Never heard of her,” he told the National Post.

Bob Hoolans, who owns Northland Towing and Recovery in Gravenhurst, Ont., confirmed that his company towed and impounded a black Escalade but said he did not know the owner of the vehicle. He said the owner or a representative for the owner will be able to pick it up in seven days.

But Ms. McRobb visited Northland Towing on Wednesday, where she complimented a man behind the counter on his watch before saying that she’d left her own watch in Rob Ford’s room, according to video posted by a local radio station.

“I got busted for drinking and driving yesterday and my vehicle’s here,” she told the clerk. “Well not my vehicle, but all my stuff is in it.”

In the parking lot, reporters with MOOSE FM asked the woman — whom they identified as Ms. McRobb — whether she was in rehab with the Toronto mayor.

“No, I’m not anymore. I was, but I’m out of there,” she said.

When reporters asked how Rob Ford is doing in rehab, she said: “Top notch.”

Ms. McRobb also said “yes” she considers Rob Ford to be a friend and that he is a good guy.

Reporters pressed on with questions about how she ended up driving his vehicle.

“That’s for me to know. You guys don’t need to know,” she responded.

At one point in the video, Ms. McRobb comments to the Northland Towing employee about his watch.

“I like your watch, that’s a nice watch,” she says. “I don’t know where mine is, it’s driving me crazy. Not having a watch is not good. I’ve got a really nice one, too. I think I left it at GreeneStone… I think it’s in Rob Ford’s room. But whatever, I’ll get it later.”

Last week, Mr. Ford took photos with locals in a strip mall in Bracebridge, not far from his family cottage. The sightings were a short drive from GreeneStone Muskoka, a private residential addiction treatment facility.

Police said they pulled the Escalade over at Muskoka District Road 169 and Butterfly Road, about seven kilometres from GreeneStone.

A woman who answered the general inquiries line at GreenStone, but who would not give her name, would not say if Mayor Ford is enrolled in a program. “We don’t discuss any of our residents with outsiders,” she said.

National Post with files from Natalie Alcoba, Josh Visser and Katrina Clarke